| NBC Southern California | - |
Investigators
with the National Transportation Safety Board have determined two small
planes that collided over the Santa Monica Mountains on Monday were
flying toward each other at elevations about 100 feet apart, even though
the standard is 1,000.
Calabasas Midair Plane Collision Killed 2, Authorities Reveal
Originally, only one person was thought to have died in the Monday crash
Patrick Healy
Investigators
with the National Transportation Safety Board have determined two small
planes that collided over the Santa Monica Mountains on Monday were
flying toward each other at elevations about 100 feet apart, even though
the standard is 1,000. Patrick Healy reports from Malibu State Creek
Park for the NBC4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. on April 30, 2013.
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Authorities said Tuesday that an
additional body has been found in the burned wreckage of a plane hit in a
collision with another small aircraft over Calabasas on Monday.
Two people died in the crash between
two Cessna aircraft, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman
Steve Whitmore said Tuesday. Previously, only one pilot had been
confirmed dead.
"It appears that the Cessna 172
four-seater single-engine plane actually dive-bombed directly into the
side of the mountain, causing a crater," Whitmore said. "The remains of
two individuals are among the mangled wreckage."
The collision
occurred at 2:01 p.m. Monday at an altitude of more than 3,000 feet
about eight miles east-northeast of Ventura, according to data from the
Federal Aviation Administration.
National Transportation Safety Board
Senior Air Safety Investigator Howard Plagens said at an 11:45 a.m.
news conference that one of the planes had been heading eastbound and
the other westbound.
Flights rules on altitude require
eastbound and westbound planes to keep at least 1,000 feet apart.
However, radar data shows a separation of only 100 feet.
The first airplane, a Cessna 172RG,
was headed west at 3,400 feet. It had been given clearance from air
traffic control at Santa Monica Airport following its 1:53 p.m. request
to depart west en route to Camarillo.
A second plane, a Cessna 172, has
been in an holding pattern above Santa Monica Airport following
maintenance work for several minutes. It was given permission to depart
the airport heading west at 1:40 p.m.
"The targets merged at 14:01. One
target went down immediately. The other drifted off to the west before
dropping off the radar scope," Plagens said.
The second plane -- which had been
traveling eastbound at an altitude fo 3,300 feet, according to an FAA
review of radar data, Plagens said -- crashed into mountainous terrain
in Calabasas, sparking a 1-acre brush fire.
The Camarillo-bound plane,
meanwhile, made an emergency landing near the third hole at the Westlake
Golf Course in Westlake Village. The plane remained on the course
Tuesday during a continuing investigation, as seen below, before being removed in the afternoon.
Plagens said FAA officials were
speaking midday Tuesday with the three people who survived in the craft
that made an emergency landing. The three are believed to be flight
instructors.
Investigators will examine the
wreckage for signs that the planes collided with other objects such as
birds. The collision angle will help determine the visibility between
the two aircraft, Plagens said.
It appears weather was not a factor, but the angle of sunlight will be examined, Plagens said.
The identity, age and gender of the
two people killed will be released by the Los Angeles County Department
of Coroner, Plagens said.
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